Go slow and take lots of breaks when you're shoveling show. If you don't, you risk muscle strains, an aching back or, worse, a heart attack.

Ideally, all snow shoveling should be done by sports-playing teenagers. But at some point nearly all of us will be pressed into a sidewalk-clearing detail. The key, especially if you're at least 45 and not in particularly good shape, is to go slow and take lots of breaks.